Where Love Is Never Lost
by Afterworld EverDawn
Summary: Roxanne has changed, for the worse, but Scorpius will stay with her, until the very end.


I was afraid. For many nights I lay awake next to her, careful not to stir so much, lest I wanted to push her into the place of unimaginable terrors. I didn't understand it, what she was going through, or how it had even come about. All that I knew is that I loved her when her sanity held strong, and would love her until her mind crumbled into a fine dust.  
>The doctors said there was nothing to be done for her. Nothing Muggle had ever seen such a state of being, nor had any magical advances been made in the feild of strange mental illness. I knew that it wasn't an illness, that she didn't just chance upon it, or recieve it from some long passed relative. No, this was the work of dark magic, foul magic. I'd known in my heart that she wasn't the same when she'd returned from Greece, but I was blinded by love, and will die blind by her side if ever I foolishly abandon her.<p>

[-][-][-]

"Scorpius, I made your favourite for lunch." Roxanne's voice chimed, pure and sweet, like chocolate for the ears. Scorpius grinned and walked into the kitchen, past the table and to the sunlit window, where an owl had been waiting to get rid of the post. Roxanne hadn't noticed.

"You've got a letter from your cousin, Lily." Scorpius said, sitting across from her at their small table. He held out the letter to her, but it took her a moment to grasp the concept.

With a nervous giggle she took it. "Silly me," she mused. "So caught up in other things. I spent the morning tidying; did the laundry and washed the dishes. Looks good, right?"

Scorpius looked through the glass of the door, and into the laundry room. A couple of white baskets sat on top of the machines, contently full of clothes. Whether they were clean or not, he couldn't be sure. However, it was rather obvious how well the dishes were done. Piled haphazardly next to the sink, Scorpius cast a stabilizing charm just in case gravity wasn't in its favor.

"It looks fabulous, Annie. Absolutely wonderful." Scorpius took a bite of his food, then asked, "What had Lily written for?"  
>Roxanne shrugged. "Wanted to know why I hadn't written her like I'd promised to. Funny, because I'm sure I did..."<p>

[-][-][-]

Scorpius walked through the door, and shook off his umbrella. It was raining cats and dogs outside, but he was just glad to be getting home. He was sure that his visits to the office would be growing fewer and further between, and he had been right. Today had been the last time he'd ever set foot in the Ministry again, this was, until Roxanne improved in condition.

He shrugged off his coat, and stashed his umbrella away. "Annie, where are you love?"

Only the silence answered him, pressed in on his ears. His heart quickened. Maybe she'd fallen or drowned in the tub. Perhaps she'd wondered outside, thinking one of the doors led somewhere else. She could be anywhere-  
>Still a stone, she faced out the window, her image faintly reflected against the rain streaked pane. Slowly, her lips formed words, and she frowned at herself. Scorpius hurried to her side, but with caution placed his hands upon her shoulders.<p>

"Darling, come away from the window."

"But Scorpius, look. This person, she looks so much like me. Speaking when I do, and miming my movements." Roxanne didn't take her eyes off the window as she spoke, as if determined to prove her point.

Scorpius could only nod. "I understand, Annie, I do. I promise though, that as long as you stay away from the window, that woman will not be able to mock you. Do you understand?"

Roxanne nodded. "I do."

[-][-][-]

The acid green glow of the clock upon her nightside table stung his grey eyes, yet he dared not turn away. Already tonight, he'd had her nearly wake the neighbors with her demonic wailing and screeching. As of now, that being three in the morning, she was sound asleep, though she twitched every so often, as if to silently beg him not to drift off.

He wouldn't, didn't even dare contemplate it. He knew somewhere, trapped inside the frail, bone thin figure was Roxanne, his beautiful, strong Annie.

[-][-][-]

"NO!" she screamed, thrashing as the healers at St Mungo's tried to restrain her. "They'll find them! They'll take them AWAY!"

"Take them where, Annie? Where are they taking them?" Scorpius asked, his voice shaking violently, as were his hands as he grasped hers, determined not to let go. At his touch, she calmed, if only for a few seconds. Their eyes connected, and all the fear, all the insanity came flooding forth, threatening to drown him. Like a shooting star, it vanished, and she was thrashing again, desperately trying to free herself even though they'd already bound her, and shrieking about things Scorpius didn't understand.

The healers returned shortly, and stayed only long enough to inject a heavy dose of some sort of sedative. Scorpius tried to refuse it for her, claiming it'd be better for her to let whatever demons were haunting her out, but they went ahead despite him. They left within seconds of Roxanne falling still.

[-][-][-]

The pale grey light of pre dawn came through the window, giving the room a gloomy appearance. Scorpius was still in the same chair he'd sat in upon their arrival at St Mungo's. He had no intention of leaving. Ever. Not without Roxanne at least.

"They'll find them ... They'll hurt them like they tried to hurt me..." Roxanne murmured, but apart from her lips, she lay dormant. It was a side effect of the drug that put her under, the healers claimed. Scorpius didn't know what to believe anymore. If the healers were lying to him, he didn't know. Didn't know how to figure it out either. He himself looked sickly in appearance, unshaven and too thin, practically like Roxanne. Her wrists were so small, he could hold it and touch his thumb to his pinky. Her hands were like skeleton bones; her cheeks high and hollow without her bubbly flesh; and her eyes sunken and haunting.

Scorpius replied in a whisper of his old voice. "They'll never find them. I'm here, I'll protect them like I protected you. I'm always here. I'll always be here."

Her lips hesitated, before she spoke again, repeating the same lines. Scorpius didn't know what to do, only to repeat his own lines back to her. Like they were stuck in some infinite loop.

Finally, she stopped, and Scorpius rested his forehead upon her sheets. "I've only ever loved her. I'll always love her - Dear God, bring her back to me." he pleaded, vainly praying his voice would be heard by some higher power.

[-][-][-]

The dark of night returned again, but for once Roxanne remained silent. The healers rushed into the room, so accustomed to the act that they were startled to find she was sound on her own, nothing rushing through her veins to halt unwanted actions. Scorpius merely looked at them all, too exhausted to spare words. If he had spoken, he was sure it would be his plead to return Roxanne's sanity, because his only other lines were those he used to respond solely to her.

Many of the healers left then, including the one with the drug. Only an elderly man remained, and he walked over to where Scorpius sat, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

[-][-][-]

Roxanne never made it through that night.

Only Scorpius had realised it, as she missed each of her rambling periods, and stirred less than she spoke. By the following grey of dawn, Scorpius was in tears, begging and pleading at his voice's highest volume, which was hardly higher than a whisper by then. The elderly healer, who had stayed with his for a while after the others had parted, returned to calm him. Not by use of a drug, but by use of human compassion. He simply sat in a chair next to the one Scorpius had failed to vacate for longer than it took to make a round trip to the lavitory, and simply uttered words of calming and sympathy.

[-][-][-]

They'd buried her that following afternoon.

How quickly word of a loved one passed can travel.

Scorpius welcomed those in attendance by shaking their hand, and staring blankly at their faces. He couldn't tell who a single person was, until Lucy arrived. Though she had come with someone else, she was with him through the entire funeral. Always holding his hand, never uttering a word. She didn't look at him, and Scorpius didn't take offense to it. He was relieved, to be honest.

Lucy was the only one who didn't try to talk to him, didn't express how sorry she was for his loss, didn't press for details of her final days. To those who did, Scorpius could only manage inchoherant mumbles, and Lucy kindly asked that they give him space. All the while, her hand never let go of his. It was as though she was tethering him to the world.  
>At the end of it all, she said goodbye to the same someone she'd come with, and hadn't seen since taking Scorpius' hand. She stood by him as everybody left the cemetary, and until they were alone with only the wind, and remained there still, even as the sun vanished beneath the horizon.<p>

[-][-][-]

"I know how badly the wound hurts." she said through the darkness. The first words she'd spoken in so many hours. She gave a pause, then continued. "I can't say that it will ever fully heal, because I am a terrible liar, and I don't lie to family."

Again, she paused, as if to see whether or not he'd offer a response.

Scorpius didn't, and Lucy moved forward once more.

"She loved you more than anything in the world, you must know. She refused to dance with people at Rose's wedding because she was worried it would be considered cheating. I'd never heard of such a thing before, but it mattered to her, and if I'm only repeating it, I hope you know it's true. You mattered to her, more than everything else."

Scorpius couldn't tell if Lucy was looking at him now or not. Couldn't be sure if she'd actually spoken, her voice was so calm, so like those of dreams. He had to say something, to prove that he was listening ... Only, what was there to say?

Drawing in a slow breath, he managed to choke out, "I've only ever loved her. I'll always love her - Dear God, bring me back to her."

[-][-][-]

Lucy stood by Lorcan's side, his arm around her, drawing her near. The day was bright, the sun bringing alive all the beauty of the world. In the calm space, beneath the shade of a willow tree, two stones lay side by side.

"He only ever loved her." Lucy said clearly, her eyes glittering with tears that rolled slowly down her face.  
>Lorcan turned and looked down at her, compassion in his eyes. "They only ever loved each other. They're happy now, where they are. A better place, just like you've always said."<p>

A small smile touched Lucy's lips. "A better place, where love is never lost."


End file.
